8 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Starting Pitchers (2026)

Here are the top fantasy baseball sleepers at starting pitcher our experts are targeting in their 2026 drafts.

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers: Starting Pitchers

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers

Who’s your favorite sleeper outside the top 60 SPs and why?

Chad Patrick (SP – MIL)

“Named the Opening Day starter for the Brewers, Chad Patrick had a 3.53 ERA last year, with a 25% K%. He’s working on a Slurve to complement his fastball and cutter, which could lead to a jump in his strikeout rate. He’s going outside the top 350 overall players and undrafted in most leagues. He’s a great bet to see if the K’s jump, and if not, you can move on to a streamer.”
– Chris Welsh (FantasyPros)

“I wrote him up in an article on FantasyPros last week (shameless plug), and I am going to bang the drum again for him here. It’s Chad Patrick, and I am going to mention the same tidbit I did in that piece, with a slight tweak. There are 127 MLB pitchers who threw at least 100 innings last year. Nine of them struck out at least a batter per inning while allowing less than one home run per nine innings. Here is where each of those nine pitchers lands in the current ECR landscape: SP1, SP2, SP5, SP6, SP7, SP9, SP12, SP19, SP103 (Chad Patrick is SP103). Manager Pat Murphy has already confirmed that Patrick has earned a spot in Milwaukee’s starting rotation. I expect Patrick to continue to provide solid numbers across the board. I believe Chad Patrick is one of the best overall fantasy values late in drafts.”
– Mick Ciallela (Fantrax)

Bailey Ober (SP – MIN)

“Bailey Ober is one of my biggest sleepers. He’s going in drafts as the 82nd starting pitcher off the board after being drafted as the 25th starter in drafts last year. He had a down year, to put it lightly, but he said it was due to a hip injury he was trying to play through. Heading into drafts last year, he was coming off three seasons of a mid-to-high-3s ERA with an exceptional WHIP. At ADP 280 overall, he’s basically free.”
– Chase Davis (FantasyPros)

Joey Cantillo (SP – CLE)

“Joey Cantillo has a good changeup and curveball. If he can improve the walk rate, he can take a big step. The changeup had a 49.4% whiff rate. Cantillo had a 3.21 ERA and a 26.9% strikeout rate over 95.1 innings.”
– Adam Ronis (Sirius XM)

Kodai Senga (SP – NYM)

“Kodai Senga started the 2025 season on the injured list, but once he returned, he looked like the same dominant pitcher thanks to his famous ghost forkball. Senga finished the season with nearly a strikeout per inning and a 2.99 ERA, showing that his swing and miss stuff remains elite when healthy. The New York Mets roster that has added significant offensive firepower, Senga should find himself in far more winning situations. If he can stay healthy for a full season, the strikeout upside and strong ratios give him the potential to dramatically outperform his draft position. Getting a pitcher with ace-level ability at the end of your draft is exactly the type of move that can win fantasy leagues.”
– Muntradamus (Beast Dome)

Braxton Ashcraft (SP – PIT)

“Everyone must have been too focused on Bubba Chandler to notice another Pirates rookie’s impressive arrival. Braxton Ashcraft registered a 2.71 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 69.2 innings with a 50.3% ground-ball rate and 2.78 FIP. He didn’t falter when moving from the bullpen to rotation, delivering a 2.16 ERA and 2.42 FIP in eight starts. Ashcraft must get stretched out more after never completing six innings last season, but he allowed two combined runs when working at least five frames in three straight August starts. He’s an intriguing gamble around his No. 289 average ADP.”
– Andrew Gould (FantasyPros)

Cody Ponce (SP – TOR)

“Cody Ponce can be the newest example of a player who breaks out abroad and brings their gains back to MLB with them. Ponce last pitched in MLB in 2021 for the Pirates before spending three years in NPB and putting it together in his only season in KBO in 2025. In 29 starts spanning 180.2 innings in the KBO last year, Ponce had a 1.89 ERA, 2.30 xFIP, 0.94 WHIP, 5.9 BB%, and 36.2 K%. Ponce has tallied a 1.50 ERA, 2.60 xFIP, 0.67 WHIP, 0.0 BB%, and 23.8 K% in three Spring Training starts spanning 6.0 innings. Additionally, Ponce has utilized a fastball with an average velocity of 95.8 mph, a cutter averaging 91.0 mph, a slider at 84.6 mph, a curve at 83.0 mph, and a changeup at 89.0 mph in Spring Training. Ponce’s deep arsenal and wide variety of velocities should serve him well. He’s undervalued as the SP84 in ADP.”
– Josh Shepardson (FantasyPros)

Jack Leiter (SP – TEX)

“Jack Leiter has entered post-hype territory because he struggled in his first taste of the Majors. Yet, he’s still just 25 years old and had a solid 2025 in which he started 29 games and posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. The walk rate needs to decline, but command often comes with experience. Leiter is adding a cutter to his already-deep five-pitch repertoire and is aiming to work deeper into games. Leiter has always been a massive talent waiting to break out, and 2026 might be the year it happens.”
– Pierre Camus (Fantasy Endgame)

Ryan Weathers (SP – NYY)

“Ryan Weathers has landed in the perfect spot to finally take advantage of his swing-and-miss stuff after being traded to the Yankees in the offseason. Fantasy managers will likely have reservations due to consistent injury issues over the past couple of seasons, but the left-hander has posted a dazzling 12.71 K/9 so far this spring, and being ranked the #76 starting pitcher seems like a bargain while filling out the back of my fantasy rotation.”
– Chris Schommer (FantasyPros)

Logan Henderson (SP – MIL)

“I love the youth in the Brew Crew’s rotation, and Logan Henderson is one of the reasons. His 2025 season was filled with signs of upside potential ( 33 K’s in 25.1 IP) and elite ratios (1.78 ERA and .99 WHIP), and that was at the Major League level. In the minors, he was a model of consistency, which bodes well for his ability to be a consistent fantasy starter. In 12 Minor League starts, he allowed two or fewer runs in 11 and only three in the 12th. Combine that with a sub-2 ERA and sub-1 WHIP at the Major League level, and it has me scratching my head at how there is even a question as to whether Henderson has a rotation spot when camp breaks, especially after Freddy Peralta bolted for the bright lights of Big City New York. Peralta left the Brew Crew with a bag, and I fully expect Henderson to carry it and to carry it better than Peralta did. Henderson has had some elbow soreness in camp, so owners need to monitor that as draft night approaches. Other than that, ranked as the 85th best SP, I call that a sleeper, not only worth rostering but someone that could be the reason owners win leagues.”
– Chris Mitchell (FantasyData)